Quick Search

RICHARD (DICK) REVIS CULBERT

RICHARD (DICK) REVIS CULBERT

Richard Culbert died peacefully at home in Gibsons on May 23, 2017. He was born April 24, 1940, in Winnipeg, only child of Margaret and Fred Culbert. After his father was killed in WWII, the family moved to West Vancouver, which Richard called home for many decades. He entered UBC in 1958 and graduated with a BASc in geophysical engineering in 1963 and a PhD in geophysics in 1971.
Richard was an explorer. From about 1956 to 1972, mountaineering and being in the mountains was the driving passion of his life. He made several hundred first ascents, mostly in BC. Some of these have become classics; others are sufficiently challenging and formidable that they have seldom or never been repeated. He is widely acknowledged as one of the all-time greatest explorers of the BC mountains, so much so that the 1960s (his most active decade of mountaineering) have been called “Culbertʼs Decade.” Richard considered his finest achievement to be his 1965 Climberʼs Guide to the Coastal Ranges of British Columbia. This was the first attempt to pull together all that was then known about the mountaineering history of this great range and it remains the only one of its kind. It has been described by mountaineering historians as “to this day probably the finest achievement in mountain guidebook writing ever accomplished.” His many articles in mountaineering journals are written with grace and understatement. These articles and his book of mountain poems, The Coast Mountains Trilogy, made him one of Canadaʼs foremost and most creative interpreters of the mountain experience.
He spent many decades in mineral exploration, work that allowed him to express his creativity and love of out-of-the-way corners of the world, especially in Chile. Upon retirement, Richard began building, with little support or help, a series of hiking trails near his home in Gibsons, the longest being the now very popular Mt Elphinstone Summit Trail. He was justifiably proud of his contributions to the Encyclopedia of Life and his own web site, dixpix.ca, that documented the nearly 5,000 photos of plants, fungi, birds and insects that he encountered during his travels.
Richard was a kind, gentle and approachable, low key and always humble man. He loved good fun and dancing, and he had a wry, offbeat sense of humour that often turned on an alliterative phrase or two. Although best known in connection with the mountains, he was interested in far more: mushrooms, people, other cultures, anything “interesting” (and most things were “interesting” to Richard). He accepted other cultures and people with warmth and compassion and without judging them. He was deeply curious about the world: the last book he read was about string theory.
Richard is greatly missed by his wife, Maggie Citrin; his children, Heather (Tom), Vance (Kirsten), Kayla (Felix), and Ana Citrin Johnson (Tim), 11 grandchildren; and his many friends. The family thanks Dr. Ron Mundy for making his last months as comfortable as possible.

 

ANNOUNCEMENT PUBLISHED IN

Tribute

Leave a condolence

comments powered by Disqus

Quick Search

Place an Obituary

MEMORIAL WEBSITE

Create a Memorial Website